The Last Federation is procedurally-generated grand strategy by the creator of AI War

The prolific Arcen Games is following up last year's excellent Bionic Dues with a new tactical grand strategy. The Last Federation isn't the name of some fatalistic Next Generation fan-fiction, but rather a space-based strategy/tactics hybrid set in a simulated procedural universe. You take command of a small mercenary fleet, exploring a solar system containing eight alien races, and attempting to unify its survivors into a solar federation.

According to Arcen, uniting survivors will require "a lot of fighting, a lot of political deals and backstabbing, and occasionally strapping rockets to a moon." I do find that most of my inter-office negotiations are helped along by moon rockets.

Arcen's AI WAR was an incredibly popular PC strategy, raising over $1 million just through Steam. This looks like an interesting return to the vastness of space, and the idea of procedural intrigue does set off the systematic interest alarm that exists in my head. The Last Federation is currently in alpha testing, with the full game due out at the end of this month.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.